


Uneasy Rest

by EverAtYourSide



Series: Promptis Week 2018 [4]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Adorable cuddles ensue, Also kinda Day 1, Day 7, M/M, Promptis Week 2018, Prompto has nightmares, Reunion in Zegnautus, and Noct is there to comfort him, bed sharing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-25
Updated: 2018-06-25
Packaged: 2019-05-28 04:28:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15040733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EverAtYourSide/pseuds/EverAtYourSide
Summary: Prompto attempts to insist everything is fine after he is rescued from his cell in Zegnautus. It soon becomes clear however, that the reality of the situation is quite the opposite and Prompto looks to Noctis for reassurance that things are not as hopeless as they seem.





	Uneasy Rest

**Author's Note:**

> Promptis Week 2018 - Day 7: bed sharing || ~~Ignis or Gladio is Noct’s wingman to get him with Prompto~~  
>  || ~~“Dude, could you be more gay? Don’t answer that.”~~  
>  Day 1: ~~first and/or last kiss~~  
>  || reunion in Zegnautus || ~~“We’re here together.”~~  
>  It's hard to believe that it's already Day 7 of Promptis week...! T.T It has been super fun sharing my fics with everyone and seeing all the amazing work everyone has submitted. This fic covers two prompts - Bed Sharing - for Day 7 as well as touching on Day 1's prompt of -Reunion in Zegnautus- 
> 
> Enjoy!

“Tell me.” Prompto uttered quietly, attempting to collect himself after finally being released from the contraption that had held him captive for who the hell even knew how long. “Were you worried about me?”

“Of course I was!” The disheveled Lucian Prince exclaimed as he brought his face so close to the blonde’s that their foreheads were practically touching. “What kind of question is that?”

“Of course,” Prompto chuckled lightly, as though he should have known that was going to be Noct’s reply, and yet maybe there was still a small part deep down that had been convinced of everything Ardyn had said to the contrary. “That’s why you came, like I believed you would.”

“Prompto…” Noctis breathed out slowly, as though all the words and apologies that he wanted to make sure the other heard simply got caught in his throat.

“That’s why I told myself I couldn’t die. Not until I could see you and hear you tell me I’m not a fake. That I’m the real me.” Prompto’s voice came once more, slow and quiet, but deliberate all the same.

“I’m sorry-” Noctis started to say, before Prompto shook his head and wrapped his arms around Noct, squeezing the other as tightly as he could manage, a part of him needing to confirm that the Noct that was here was real, and not just a trick, or a figment of his imagination.

“Don’t be,” Prompto muttered quietly, “Everything’s alright now.”

Noctis knew Prompto was probably just saying that for his sake, which just served to make him feel even worse about everything that had happened. Of course, Prompto would be the person that wouldn’t hold a grudge even after everything he just went through.

“Astrals, Prom…” Noctis replied, as he in turn also pulled Prompto into a strong and supportive embrace. “I’m just so glad we found you. I’ve been worried sick- I mean, we’ve all been worried sick about you.”

“You have?”

“Well of course, you dummy!” Noctis exclaimed, probably a little louder than absolutely necessary, as Noctis distinctly felt the blonde jump slightly.

“Not to break up the reunion and all, but don’t you think we better get going somewhere that’s not quite so… vulnerable?” Gladio’s voice cut sharply through the air suddenly, causing both boys to jump this time.

“Geeze, Gladio.” Noct moaned, “Way to kill the mood… sorry it’s such an inconvenience that I wanted to take a second to make sure Prom was okay after having been worrying non-stop about all the shit he’s probably gone through because of my dumbass mistake…”

“Noct-”

“I think what Gladio is trying to say is that it would be prudent to get everyone to a safe place where Prompto can get some proper rest and we don’t have the risk of being attacked by the daemons that have seem to overrun the Keep.” Ignis’s voice suddenly cut in as Prompto and Noct reluctantly pulled themselves apart and Noct helped Prompto rise to his feet.

Despite all claims that he was fine, Prompto still ended up having to lean into Noct quite a bit as they started to move through the maze of hallways in the keep, but Noct didn’t mind in the least bit.

In fact, he welcomed the prolonged touch that proved to him every moment that he had finally found the real Prompto this time, not just a shattered illusion Ardyn had summoned for the sole purpose of tormenting him.

It didn’t take that long for the four boys to locate the nearest dormitory to take refuge in while Prompto got some well-needed rest; and as they walked, Noctis couldn’t help but continue to apologize repeatedly.

“I can’t believe I said all those horrible things to you, Prom…” Noctis apologized, “I swear, if I had known that was you, I never would have-”

“Don’t worry, dude.” Prompto quickly chimed in, cutting Noct’s rambling short. “Seriously, it’s okay. I got tricked too.”

“Yeah, okay.” Noctis nodded, surprised that Prompto seemed to be such relatively good spirits, especially after everything he just went through. “If something was bothering you though, you would tell me, right?” he asked, already having a pretty good idea of the answer he was about to get.

“Yeah, of course, Noct.”

Maybe it was bit too enthusiastic, or it was just a bit too quick, but there was something about the way Prompto had said it that had Noct doubting how genuine of a statement it was.

Although, if there was one thing that Noct knew about Prompto after all these years, it was that if Prompto didn’t want to talk about what was really bothering him, then it would be almost impossible to get any semblance of the truth out of him.

“Well, you know I’m here if you ever wanna talk.” Noctis followed up quickly, hoping that maybe after getting some rest, Prompto might be in a bit more of a sharing mood.

“The dormitory’s right ahead,” Ignis cut in before Noct had a chance to hear Prompto’s reply. “How’s Prompto doing?”

“I’m fine, Iggy…” Prompto replied as he attempted to plaster his usual playful grin on his face, before realizing how useless of an attempt it was.

Once everyone had filed into the small room, Prompto was all too ready to collapse onto one of the small beds and was asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.

While the blonde was getting some much-needed rest, the three remaining Lucians decided to use this time to try and plan out what their next move should be.

As the boys continued to debate and tensions continued to rise about where their efforts should be focused, all conversation suddenly ceased as they heard some kind of yelling followed by a loud thump.

All three boys whipped their heads around as the noise definitely originated from the back of the dormitory where Prompto had fallen asleep just a short time ago.

Noctis was the first to sprint back to the bed where Prompto had been sleeping to find that the blonde was in fact, no longer sleeping on the bed, but lying on the floor attempting to detangle himself from the thin blanket he had been sleeping under.

“Prom?! What happened? Are you okay?” Noctis asked in quick succession, without any chance for the blonde to actually answer any of the individual questions.

“M’fine….” Prompto muttered just as quickly, as he finally managed to extricate himself from the tangle of limbs and sheets he had gotten himself in when he had so gracefully swan-dived off his bed moments ago.

“It’s nothing; really.” He finished, managing to arrange himself so that he was once again laying on his side with his back facing the very confused and worried prince.

The brashness at how quickly Prompto had dismissed him was definitely proof that something was wrong, but Noctis was honestly at a loss right now as how to breech this rift that had somehow formed between them.

“Noct-” Ignis’s voice now cut through the silence as he placed a firm grip on the younger boy’s shoulder.

“I know you want to be there to help support Prompto, but it seems what he might need right now is just some space and time to sort things out on his own. The last thing that we want to do is to pressure him into talking about what he went through before he is ready. It may be hard, but I believe that is our best course of action right now. What is most important right now is that he is here with us and he is safe. Once he is ready to talk, I’m sure he will.” Ignis finished, guiding the prince away to give Prompto some space.

“Yeah,” Noctis sighed as he continued watching the sleeping form of the blonde. “I guess you’re right, Iggy. It’s just… I want to be there for him, ya know? Especially, since none of this would have happened in the first place if it wasn’t for me being stupid enough to fall for Ardyn’s trick.”

“There’s nothing we can do to change the events that have already happened,” Ignis replied, “All we can do is continue to move forward and make sure that we don’t repeat the same mistakes we made before. Now, I believe that every single one of us are well overdue for some proper rest.” Ignis concluded as he set his cane down next the bed on Noct’s other side as Gladio laid down on Ignis’s other side.

“I guess…” Noctis started to agree before he conveniently was consumed by a large yawn and tried to make himself as comfortable as possible on the thin dormitory mattress.

Surprisingly, even despite the less than promising situation that they found themselves in, Noct still found himself drifting off to sleep in no time at all.

* * *

 

It was definitely an understatement to say that Prompto was exhausted after everything he had gone through since the ill-fated incident on the train to Tenebrae.

Which made it all the more annoying when Prompto distinctly felt Noct pulling him arm forcefully enough to wake him, especially after he had _finally_ just managed to actually fall asleep.

“Noct, what the-” Prompto started to moan before his eyes opened wide and his entire body froze when he realized that the person who had a firm grasp on his wrist was not Noct at all.

Prompto would never forget the man’s face as long as he lived… this couldn’t be… it had to be a dream… but if it was a dream then why did it feel so real…?

“A-Ardyn…” Prompto barely managed to breath out as he desperately tried to pull his wrist from the other’s unyielding grasp. “W-What are you-”

The older man brought a single finger up to his mouth and smiled in a way that caused chills to run down Prompto’s spine as he continued to struggle uselessly.

“Shhhh… dear boy.” The man whispered lightly, “We wouldn’t want to wake up those supposed friends of yours, now would we?”

“G-Get off of me…!” Prompto yelled frantically as Ardyn pulled him up to his feet almost effortlessly, while Prompto was seriously questioning how in the world the other three could still be sleeping so soundly; especially with as loud as he was while attempting to wrestle himself out of Ardyn’s grasp.

“N-Noct…! Someone…. p-please… don’t let him- I don’t… I don’t want to go back!” Prompto yelled desperately, now resorting to clawing frantically at the other man’s hand, powerless to do anything but flounder as Ardyn slowly pulled him further and further away from the three still sleeping peacefully in their cots, completely unware of what was transpiring right under their noses.

“Didn’t I tell you already?” Ardyn laughed, his enjoyment only heightening as the boy within his grasp continue to struggle, frantically looking for help that wasn’t going to come. “They don’t care about you… you are welcome to scream all you want, but I can assure you no-one will come help you, and such beautiful noises are just music to my ears.”

“N-No…! That’s not true…” Prompto attempted to reason, though his voice came through strained.

“Don’t be silly.” The older man chuckled as he pulled the blonde closer, cupping his chin as he forced Prompto’s gaze to meet his own.

“Even after all this commotion you’ve made, they haven’t so much as stirred,” Ardyn smirked as he enjoyed watching the fear on blonde’s face consume him. “I’ll give you a hint… it’s because they simply don’t care. You are nothing but a burden to them.”

“What did you do…? You must have done _something_ … they- Noct… he wouldn’t…”

“Come with me…” Ardyn whispered slowly into Prompto’s ear, “ _I_ will surely find a use for you.”

With that Ardyn seemed to be done with playing his cruel game as he hoisted the still struggling and screaming blonde over his shoulder and striding casually over towards the only exit as though Prompto’s struggles meant nothing.

“Better say your last goodbyes while you have the chance…” Ardyn smirked as the door slid open, pausing for just a moment before stepping through and allowing the cold metal door slam shut right in front of the blonde’s eyes before Prompto heard Ardyn’s cold laugh and everything went black.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next thing Prompto knew, he bolted straight out of bed and was just barely able to keep himself from crying out as he attempted to figure out what in the hell was going on.

Breathing heavily and his heart feeling as though it were beating a million times per minute, Prompto attempted to take a moment to attempt to even out his breathing and calm his heart rate with very little to no success.

After having a chance to look around, he was at least able to confirm that he was mercifully still in the dormitory that everyone was resting in.

_Wait-_ Prompto instantly shot his head around the room looking for the man that never seemed to be far away; but thank the astrals, he didn’t see him anywhere in sight.

Then again, that didn’t really mean all that much considering Ardyn always had a tendency of popping up exactly when and where Prompto least expected and/or wanted him to.

Just because he wasn’t here right at this very moment, didn’t mean it would be impossible for Ardyn to show up out of the blue and attempt to drag him back like he always seemed to do whenever Prompto closed his eyes.

If there was anything Prompto knew for sure right now though, it was that there was absolutely no way he would be able to fall asleep anytime soon.

With his most recent nightmare still so fresh in his mind, the fact remained the last thing that he wanted to do right now was lay down and close his eyes, just to see that bastard’s face again.

At the same time though, Prompto wasn’t exactly sure if he could take just sitting here in the dark by himself, consumed by the idea that Ardyn could very likely show up at any moment.

This dilemma led the blonde to spending the next five minutes or so debating with himself about whether he should just lay there and try to keep himself from falling apart over some stupid recurring nightmare or going over to trying to wake Noct up so then at least he wouldn’t be all by himself.

Although Noct probably needed this sleep just as much as anyone else, and Prompto didn’t want to become exactly what Ardyn said he was… a burden, waking Noct up to fulfill his own selfish needs.

However, that didn’t stop Prompto’s anxiety levels from continuing to rise and he knew if he continued to try and keep all these fears and worries all bottled up, it was only a matter of time before they completely overwhelmed him.

After a few minutes more of going back and forth in each direction, Prompto hesitantly started inching over towards the bed where Noct was splayed out all over the small cot he had quickly fallen asleep on.

Then, Prompto spent another good thirty seconds standing over the raven-haired prince stuck in a final debate on whether or not he _really_ wanted to bother Noct with something this stupid, when he closed his eyes and lightly shook the other’s shoulder.

It took a few moments longer and a bit more vigorous shaking on Prompto’s part to actually start to rouse said prince, but eventually Prompto noticed his face start to wrinkle in irritation before Noct finally managed to peel his eyes open at whatever it was that had woken him up from a dead sleep.

“Mhm…. whats… was goin on..?” Noctis mumbled before he finally recognized the anxious face perched a few feet above his own. “Prom…?” He muttered blearily as he attempted to rub the sleep from his eyes. “You okay…?”

“Can I -uh, would it be okay if-” Prompto started, nervous enough that he apparently succeeded at getting out everything except for what he was actually trying to ask, before frowning and finally forcing out a quick, “I can’t sleep…”

“You wanna sleep with me…?” Noctis muttered, his voice still drowsy, but managing all the same to scoot his body far enough back so that there would be just enough room for Prompto to slide in right next to him. It would be a bit snug, but surely nothing they hadn’t managed before.

“Uhm… yeah.” Prompto started, still frozen to the spot as he started fidgeting nervously as he suddenly became very interested in looking down at his feet. “But do you mind if we… don’t sleep…? C-Could we just talk or something…? I’m not all that tired and-”

“Is there a particular reason you’re trying to avoid going to sleep?” Noctis asked quite bluntly, cutting of the blonde’s rambling.

“…”

“Is this about what happened earlier? You know, when you fell out of bed?” he asked, and Prompto continued to remain silent, which was all the confirmation Noctis needed.

“Well, since we’re just sitting here talking about stuff, you wanna tell me what’s been going on with you?” Noctis tried once more.

“Uh- not really….”

“Suit yourself, but if you don’t wanna talk, I guess I might as well just go back to bed…”

“Noct…!” Prompto proceeded to whine loudly.

“You gonna tell me what’s up then?”

“…I’ve been…” Prompto starts slowly, desperately searching for the words that were so obviously eluding him, “I don’t want- ugh… why is this so hard?” He continued, groaning in frustration before taking a deep breath and finally forcing the ill-gotten words from his mouth.

“I keep having nightmares, okay?” Prompto quickly finished, unable to look the other in the eye for fear he might laugh.

“What about?” Noct asked calmly, keeping his face completely neutral and patting the empty space on the bed that he had vacated from for the blonde in the first place.

“Well… I guess there’s the obvious stuff like you guys never coming to rescue me… and sometimes stuff about you guys coming, but then getting killed because you were trying to save me…” Prompto muttered as he sunk down into the bed beside Noct, who by now was completely alert and sitting up as he pulled the blonde closer until their bodies were completely flush with each other. “But the worst ones… they always have one thing in common… Ardyn.”

Just the sheer mention of the name had Noct’s blood boiling. He couldn’t even begin to imagine all the horrible things that Ardyn had the opportunity to inflict on Prompto while he, Ignis and Gladio had been making their way to the Niflheim capital.

As if Noct needed yet _another_ reason to want to tear the smug chancellor a new asshole…

“What did that bastard do?” Noctis practically spat with enough spite and anger, to cause the blonde next to him to tense.

“Shit- I’m sorry Prom… I didn’t mean-” he apologized, his misplaced anger dissipating almost instantly.

“It’s fine.” The blonde reassured Noct as he hugged him closer. “It’s stupid really… I mean, he didn’t even come into my cell all that often-”

“It’s not stupid.” Noctis reassured him, pulling the blond in closer yet. “I can’t even begin to imagine what happened to you and I’m sure as hell not going to judge you because of what did or didn’t happen.”

“How do I make it stop, Noct?” Prompto suddenly exclaimed, pulling away as he suddenly locked eyes desperately with the boy beside him.

“I can still feel his hands all over me… I can’t forget the way his breath ghosted over my ear as he whispered things… telling me about how worthless and useless I was to you guys. How I’m nothing but an imposter trying to live a life that was never mine in the first place because I… because I’m… astrals, I’m sorry Noct… I never should have been stupid enough to think I deserved to come with you on this trip…” Prompto moaned sadly as he felt tears springing up at the corners of his eyes, ready to start overflowing at any moment.

“Hey, shhhh…” Noctis hushed the other as once again attempted to pull Prompto into what he hoped was a reassuring hug, before starting to rub the blonde’s back supportively as Prompto started hiccupping, desperately trying to hold back the wall of tears that were threating to overwhelm him. “Shh… it’s okay. I don’t want you to believe a single word that bastard said… you’re not worthless, and you’re not useless. In fact, if anyone is useless here, it’s definitely me.”

“Noct you’re not-”

“I haven’t been able to protect anyone…” Noctis frowned. “Not my father, not Luna, not even you…”

“But you _found me_ , right? I’m here aren’t I?” Prompto practically pleaded. “Doesn’t that count for anything?”

“Yeah, I’m sorry...” Noctis came back, reassuring the blonde as he hugged him closer. “I guess maybe we both need to try and give ourselves a little more credit….”

“Yeah I guess…” Prompto muttered softly.

“Hey, I know things look bad right now,” Noctis suddenly spoke up, “But we finally managed to find each other again, and as long as we’re together, there’s nothing that will stand in our way.”

“Yeah, I really hope that you’re right, Noct.”

“I am.” Noct replied confidently. “I may not have been able to do much to help anyone before, but that all changes now. We’re going to get through this… together.”

“Sounds like a plan to me.” Prompto chuckled as he finally laid his head up against Noct’s chest. He was still a little anxious about falling asleep and having more nightmares, but was comforted by having Noct there whispering comforting words to him as they laid on the small cot together in their dingy little dormitory.

Despite everything, it wasn’t long before Noct noticed Prompto’s eyes sliding shut as the blonde started sleeping soundly.

Noctis wasn’t sure what obstacles they would face, but at least they were finally together again, and he would just have to appreciate the bit of peace they had right now.

Noctis held on tightly to the blonde boy pressed up against him because as long as he had Prompto by his side, he knew that they would be able to weather whatever it was that Ardyn had planned against them.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading!
> 
> Comments are always appreciated. :)
> 
> Come hang with me on tumblr? ^-^ [ever-at-your-side-15](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/ever-at-your-side-15)


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